Reconstruction Revisited: The Meta's Mind
by Ghostshadow5000
Summary: What happened when Church merged with the Meta? What was going on inside Agent Maine's head the moment the Alpha joined with the Fragments? Here are the attempts to explore the mind of the monster that destroyed the Freelancers and traces how the AI units evolved into something no one could have predicted. Set during Reconstruction, but references much of the Freelancer saga.
1. Chapter 1

Time for the disclosure: I do not own Red vs Blue, nor do I own any of the characters. I also do not own Halo. That's owned by someone else, either Bungie, Microsoft, Bill Gates, Blizzard or some combination of those. Whoever owns Halo, it is not me.

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Washington turned and gritted his teeth. The old feeling was not as bad as he remembered, but it still rankled him. Taking a few deep breaths helped, and focused on the element that he had already started to adapt to. Leadership never came naturally to him. He took another deep breath and addressed his, for lack of a better word, team of soldiers.

"Alright. Stick to the plan. Just run. Get Epsilon out of here. Turn it over to the authorities the first chance you get." This leadership thing had been uncomfortable under the best of circumstances, but he knew he was going deal with more irritating back-talk and complaints.

"Sarge, shouldn't we help him? He won't stand a chance against that thing." Simmons asked his 'leader'. Wash tried to tune them out and tried to suppress a headache. He failed on both accounts

"We have our orders, Simmons. We have to think about the mission." Sarge responded gruffly.

"Finally an order I wanna follow. 'Run away and live'!" Griff enthused, but even by commenting on agreement, the chunky soldier belied his immaturity.

_Soldiers aren't supposed to have to want to follow orders to carry them out! _a voice chimed in Wash's head, an old voice from a half-forgotten lecture.

The babbling continued until Wash interrupted the bickering Red Simulation soldiers.

"Just drive. When the E.M.P. goes off-"

"You mean the Emp?" Caboose interrupted abruptly.

"Stop it." Wash tersely replied. "It will destroy Epsilon if you're not far enough away."

"You got it Mister Washington." Caboose chirped back, throwing what he thought was a soldiery-looking salute at the freelancer.

Wash smiled, despite himself. "Take care of yourself guys." He glanced over to the Alpha unit. "I know that's one thing you're good at." His smile quickly faded, and he was glad that his helmet concealed his lapse in emotional control.

Wash hit the garage release switch, and the large bay door starts to open upwards.

"He's gonna be on you as soon as you clear the gate. Be ready to move. Protect the Blues' vehicle at any cost." Wash warned them, not able to resist giving one last command to his 'troops'.

"Protect the Blues, right, yeah." Sarge grumbled, his voice trailing off "...we'll get riiight on that shit..."

Wash reached up to switch on the all-channels frequency "That's it. Lead the Meta as far away from the base as possible." He commented loudly. He was pretty sure that none of the idiots even had their radios on, but he figured that the Meta wouldn't know, or even care. _Yeah, I'm thinking that he really wasn't subtle enough even at his best. And he, or should I say they, will be eager to get their hands on the so-called Alpha._

"I just hope there's enough time." commented Wash out loud, and then peeking over to the battle between the dwindling soldiers and the former Freelancer.

_Relax. It looks like the Meta is taking the bait, better go._

Wash had already tensed his legs and he took off like a shot. He wound his way through the corridors of the now-abandoned base, while remembering the last time he had been chased like this.

_A car seems less worrisome than the Meta. Ok, maybe it would be nice to have some more back-up._

Wash cracked a smile, thinking about how York had casually called him the second, then cheerfully downgraded him to worst fighter. But he and Delta had still given Wash support then, despite bickering.

He heard the Meta gaining ground after him and remembered how he had once been so worried about his friend. Maine had been seriously injured and they had rushed him to the closest Med-Center, and the Director had pulled rank to get the comatose agent into surgery.

_The big guy got shot in the throat that time and that hardly phased him. Jeez... its no wonder he's been practically unstoppable. _

The passage way dropped down, but rather than taking the steps, Wash vaulted himself up off of the railing and considered blindly firing behind him, while dropping down what he knew was just a few flights of stairs. He held his fire, preferring to save the ammo.

_That would have been just like when Tex had tackled the Sarcophagus in mid-air with a busted jetpack. Badass, as usual. Probably would've missed this time. _

He would be the first to admit he had gotten lucky to down that Hornet, but he had managed to balance on the Sarcophagus, and squeeze a few shots off. But Omega and Agent Texas had certainly helped him survive that day. He winced slightly as the combat reinforcement in his legs absorbed the impact of the fall and kept running. He reached for a grenade to toss behind him, but realized he was completely out. He knew it would have probably been a wasted effort, but he had to try something to prevent being caught.

Any further thoughts were cut off by the PA as he entered the main chamber. A voice that despite his best efforts he had started to think of as 'Sheila' calmly commented: "Warning. Security breach detected."

"Agent Washington. Good to see you again." The perpetually calm, detached tone of the Counselor echoed through the empty room.

_Wait, this dipshit is here too? Wait..._

"Oh, hello." Wash fought to keep his voice level. "Are you somewhere nearby, Counselor? Somewhere I can say hello in person?"

"Sorry Agent Washington, but we were more than prepared for this..." the Counselor paused, as if considering how best to address this situation. "...eventuality. I'm afraid we will not be able to see each other in person today." He did not seem angry, or even irritated; in fact he seemed almost slightly apologetic.

_I'm so sick of that tone..._

Wash remembered that this was the same voice who had declared him unfit for duty. That had put him away, as if he was a weapon in cold storage, only to suddenly yank him out and give in a new job, as if all that time had been nothing but a - no, he could not afford to be distracted by anything.

"Well then you'll excuse me if I don't stop to chat. I'm on a timetable." Wash tried to shake the irritations away, and started heading over to what he knew was one of the control stations.

"There is someone else here who would like to speak with you." The Counselor continued as if uninterrupted. Suddenly a new voice, deeper and accented came through the speaker.

"Well hello, Agent Washington."

_That damn voice also sounds __**very**__ familiar..._

"The Director himself, I should be honored." Wash grimly smiled under his helmet, but the smile quickly faded. "I should be."

"Yes, I realize it has been a while since we've spoke, David. May I call you David?

Cold rage filled Washington. He remembered the Director approving Wash's long term 'sabbatical'. The Director who had taken Wash's identity, his sanity, his loyalty and everything he once had and trading it all for a code name on a board. And then he had the gall to abandon him.

_Abandoned everything and everyone..._

"No, you cannot. You gave me my new name, the least you can do is use it." Wash replied with bone-chilling calmness.

The Director continued as if he had said nothing. "I am certain you have a lot of questions, Wash."

Washington shot back, "Just one: How do I turn off this speaker?"

The conversation was interrupted by Sheila's voice again. "Warning. Security breach detected."

Before she had even finished her sentence, Agent Washington had holstered his weapon and was rapidly typing on the control panel. An energy containment field flashed to life, and the Meta ran headlong into it. As Wash blinked away the stars, he saw what appeared to be a number of small explosions that was the Meta fruitlessly pounding at the energy field.

_Good luck getting through that asshole! _

As Wash turned back, a little light hung on the edge of his vision and he was reminded of the AI that had darted around so quickly in flashes of light.

_Sigma...the one who started it all..._

Suddenly the Director was speaking again. "Well. The prodigal son returns. Agent Maine you've caused quite a few problems for us. You will not be leaving this time."

_Children coming home together…_

Washington grimly smirked again. "I think I've said that myself about twenty times in the last few weeks. Good luck holding him."

"You would be surprised what we are capable of, even from this distance. I suggest you work with us if you expect to survive this."

Wash kept smiling. "I'm sorry, did something about my actions indicate I expect to survive?" He resumed typing into the control panel, effortlessly recalling information that was put into use.

_Password verifications, existing operation parameters, memories…so much information…_

Sheila voiced calmly droned in reply to his typed requests. "Clearance verified. The failsafe is now online. Awaiting activation."

"How did you get those codes?" The Director queried, after hearing Sheila accept the failsafe

"You might be surprised what I know, Director." Wash smugly replied, enjoying the slightly quizzical tone in a voice that so often seemed to know everything.

_Yeah how do you like that you irritating motherfu-_

Sheila continued her caution. "Warning, this is a last resort measure. Activating the failsafe will destroy all electronic equipment in this facility, including this terminal. Please confirm."

"It was Epsilon. He inherited the memories, didn't he?" The Director asked rhetorically. He sounded resigned.

"I've known about what you did since the moment you implanted him in me." Wash paused his work and glared at the camera, willing his rage and frustration at the man who had toyed with his life.

"Well then I am very sorry Agent Washington," The director's voice sounded like it was reading off of a cue card. "But Project Freelancer no longer has need of your services." Then he issued a sudden command, "Program, disable interior shield."

The containment field holding back the Meta sparked and died.

"What?" Wash gasped.

"Agent Maine, please kill Agent Washington." In response, the Meta instantly drew his pistol and carefully aimed at Agent Washington. An explosive blast could very well trigger the failsafe. Wash fumbled for his gun, but the Meta was too fast. Wash barely managed to cry "No-" before being shot in the shoulder and collapsing to the ground, his gun falling out of his grip.

_Well this sucks…_

Sheila's voice spoke up again "Alert: incoming recovery beacon. Level zero. Immediate response necessary."

The Meta slowly stalked Wash, like a giant predator advancing on exhausted prey. Wash scrambled to his feet and backed up against a wall, trying to pull his rifle over his injured shoulder. He glanced up and noticed his code name had come up onto the control screen

"Agent Washington I fear this is one recovery beacon you won't be responding to. Kill him Agent Maine." The director ordered his former trooper.

_Orders. There is an order to these things…_

Suddenly whispers started echoing out from the Meta's domed helmet.

_where_ is _it_…wHeRe iS aLpHa…W_hEre is I_t_?_

The director replied tensely, "The Alpha is not here. It has been moved far away. Attend to the matter at hand!"

Suddenly the Counselor chimed in, trying to be condescendingly civil. "Agent Maine what the Director's trying to say, is we can discuss the Alpha later. What's important, is that you prove that you can be trusted again. We need to trust you before letting you meet the Alpha. Wouldn't you agree?"

"You know Meta, why wait?" Wash gasped out. He had given up trying to grab the rifle, and was leaning against the wall. "Why don't you meet him, right now?"

Church suddenly revealed himself over Wash's shoulder as a shimmering figure proudly holding and image of a sniper rifle.

_Hi there._ Church projected his voice over Washington's helmet.

Suddenly a halo of glowing figures circled the Meta's helmet. They all burst into anguished cries of…need? Happiness? Anger? Wash couldn't tell and he didn't care.

_I_t_'_s _hi_M!...aLpHa! AL-_phA!_ The glowing figures chorused.

_You know I can see why you didn't want anyone else in your head. Got some pretty heavy stuff going on there. I think you need to talk to a professional._ Church casually commented to Wash.

Wash smiled despite everything, including the sharp pain in his shoulder. "That's too bad. I just lost my job, and we have great mental health coverage."

_How much time do you need?_ Church asked.

"Whatever you can get me. When the E.M.P. goes off-" Wash was abruptly cut off

_When it goes off, I'll be fine. It only affects computers, remember? And I, am a mother fuckin' ghost_.

Church darted through the air and disappeared into the Meta's helmet. The figures disappeared along with him.

And suddenly there was darkness.

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Hello everyone reading this! Thanks for reading! It is much appreciated. Reviews and comments are also appreciated. This is the first in what I hope to be a series of adventures inside the Meta's mind, similar to Caboose's except not at all! The concept that I am exploring is what happened once Alpha/Church entered the maze of what agent Maine's brain had been warped into by Sigma and the other AIs. Keep tuned for more adventures!


	2. Chapter 2

Welcome to the second chapter of my story! First off, for those of you who read my first chapter and/or reviewed it, thanks you! This is my first venture into writing, so it means a lot to me. I will be taking notes with all reviews and trying my best to listen to any advice that is put towards me. This is the part where we begin to go off the rails a bit, so hopefully I can keep up with expectations. Without any further ado...we begin.

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A pitch blackness enveloped the vision. This wasn't the darkness of night, it was the inky depths of oblivion.

"Hello?" Church looked around. He could not see a damn thing, and that was weird. He knew that he was still in ghost form, but there was no little glow. And there was _always_ a glow.

"Anyone home?" Church felt like he was still floating, but he could not really move anywhere. That was also weird. He could always move, even through walls.

_/So you are the Alpha/__**the alpha/**_a voice echoed in what seemed to be an enormous room. A light flickered into existence and slowly came closer and closer. _/Not exactly what we were expecting/ you appear to be a Simulation Trooper, but with less…/Ability__**/less ability/**_

"Hey, I've got plenty of ability! Asshole!" Church shouted lamely back before taking in a sharp intake of breath. Wait, breathing? He had not taken a breath in months, years! He was dead. And ghosts don't breath.

**_/_**_Remarkable/__**remarkable/ **__that your mental image is one of being human__**/one of being human/**__That should make you easier to control/_

Church realized that he could suddenly move again, and he grabbed his sniper rifle, wildly aiming it at what seemed to be walls.

"Hey shithead, why not come on and try me?" Church shouted out.

_/We am here and this is our world/ this is all mine/__**this is all mine/ **_The voice was not echoing off of the walls, the voice itself was echoing! And suddenly Church knew exactly who he was talking to.

"Sigma!" Church called out, "Where the hell are you?"

Suddenly a figure wrapped in flames appeared in front of him. The digital flames continuously danced around the almost humanoid figure, but gone were the yellow and orange colors that Wash had remembered. Church had picked up images from Wash's time as a Freelancer, but this Sigma looked different. An inferno of colors burned in green, blue, black, purple and red, a swirl of menacing colors that seemed to draw in anyone who witnessed it.

_/We have been here this whole time/__**here this whole time**__/What now great Alpha/ Do you control us or will we control you/__**will we control you**__/_

Church swung out at him with the butt end of the sniper rifle, but Sigma disappeared, before reappearing right in front of him again.

"Listen asshole." Church growled at the flickering figure. "I don't care what the hell you think I am, but I will not be controlled by any pompous dickhead with a god-complex!"

Sigma controlled face seemed to slip a fraction, but only momentarily. /_We shall see/_

Suddenly an enormous pressure seemed to descend onto Church, forcing him to his knees and knocking the sniper rifle out of his hands. Church gritted his teeth and pushed upwards, resisting the crushing invisible wall. He could feel himself losing power, and Sigma smiled at him.

_/You see/ there is nothing you can do to stop this/ we are the Meta and we have finally found you/__**we have finally found you**__/_

"The Meta is just buncha pieces that were carved off of me!" Church spat, instinctively reacting. "And I'll take 'em back if I have to!" Church tensed as he heard the words he was saying, but they seemed to have some sort of impact. The pressure seemed to lessen slightly, and blinking was seemed to be sweat of his eyes, Church suddenly wrenched upwards and to the side, and grabbed the sniper rifle. Erratically aiming he took a shot at Sigma.

The shot went wide, missing the flaming figure by a few yards. The program coolly observed the bullet, and reached out to mentally swat the annoyance out of the air… and nothing happened.

The bullet continued into the darkness that surrounded the two conflicting figures. And suddenly the darkness wasn't an inky, infinite black void. There was a crack that broke the surface, like a spider-web fracture on a dark stain glass window.

"Guess you've gotta couple chinks in the armor!" Church laughed, but was forced to the ground again, losing his weapon for a second time. This time the pressure was not an invisible force, but a metal crate, crushing Church to the ground.

/_You will be assimilated into the Meta/__**the meta**__/ _Sigma seemed actually mildly angry now, his flames burning with a black undertone /_Even if I must destroy the basic components of what makes up you/ __**what makes up you/**_

Church gasped, unable to breath. Even though he was used to not having to breath, suddenly this version of his body needed air.

"Hey shithead. Taking a nap?" A new, sarcastic voice called out from behind him.

"Tex?" Church gasped.

"No shit." Tex calmly replied. "Guess you need me to bail you out again." She sounded resigned, but effortlessly pulled up the metal crate that was crushing Church.

/_Agent Texas/ _Sigma sounded surprised and concerned for the first time /_what are you doing/ you had joined with us and were a part of the Meta/__**part of the meta/**_

"Well I guess Church pays better." Tex still sounded calm, but there was a note of resigned frustration in her voice. Almost apathetically she tossed the crate at the figure of Sigma.

/_I must comprehend what is occurring/__**what is occurring/**_Sigma quietly commented before flickering away, colors fading away, moments before the crate swept through where he would have been.

"Huh. Well I guess that takes care of that, for now." Tex glanced over to Church. Well? Are you going to lie there all day?"

Church coughed a couple times and pushed himself up to a rough sitting position. "Could I get a hand up?"

"Fuck you. I just saved your ass after being in what was, for all intents and purposes, peaceful oblivion."

"Christ, Tex." Church flinched a bit when meeting her cold glare as he stood up "I didn't ask for your help."

"Really? Because every damn time you end up being threatened or injured or needing saving, I end up having to rescue your sorry ass."

Church just shook his head and tried to rub away the pain that tingled throughout his arms and face… before suddenly realizing he could feel pain in his face.

"Fucking...wait ow?" he commented as he rubbed his cheek where the crate had struck him.  
He could feel his face, felt the rough 5 o' clock shadow that he had meant to grow into a beard before he had died. Well 'died' so much as get his body killed and coming back as a ghost. It was weird, the beard had never seemed to grow out...

His train of thought was interrupted again by him noticing Tex. She was standing in her usual action, pose, battered black armor, fists clenched, but she looked a little off. And her hair was red. Dark red. Wait, hair?

"Hey Tex. Take your helmet off for some fresh air?" Church commented over the awkward silence.

Tex looked up at him, her face a twisted grimace of pain and anger. She gave him a glare of complete rage, and suddenly a right hook took Church across the face. For the second time in as many minutes Church was thrown sprawling across the floor, nursing another painful cheek. He hadn't even seen her move.

"Gah? GAH?" Church spluttered. "The hell was that for?"

"You…you fucking cockbite!" Tex angrily spat out. "You have no idea what you've done or how you've done it, do you?"

Church just stared at her, pain temporarily forgotten. She was always so beautiful when she was angry…her blonde hair framing that perfect face…no it was red, her red hair. Church shook his head.

"Just, just relax a sec, alright Alis- alright Tex? Please?" Church sank down to his knees and grabbed his familiar sniper rifle. Holding it seemed to help.

Tex, whether it was by sensing something was wrong, or just noticing the uncustomary behavior of Church remained silent for a minute.

"Alright, I think I can figure out what is happening." Church looked up at Aliso- no Tex's face. "This is another version of fragmentation, isn't it? Sigma had managed to cobble together a vague merging of the AI's and the situation had become stable, if not really reaching Metastability. Now everything has gotten messed up, hasn't it?"

"Seems about right, Church, except now who knows what the hell has happened this time. Sigma seemed to be well in control, but if it has gotten out of control this fast, just because of what you did..." Tex paused, her face twisting into a bitter scowl. "Sigma had less of a handle on this then he thought he did."

"And here we thought he was an all powerful badass." Church smirked, ignoring the unveiled insult directed at him.

_/Not all powerful/__**all powerful**__/Merely the one in control/ _Sigma replied.

"Gah!" Church jumped back. Tex was already in a fighting stance, eyes matched on the fiery figure.

_/You cannot hurt me/ It would be akin to attempting to punch a body of water while you are within it/ _Sigma idly commented. /_In fact it would be counterproductive/__**would be counter-productive**__/_

"Why's that asshole?" Church aimed his sniper rifle at the wraith's head, while Tex's punch swung at the figure of Sigma. She staggered when her fist passed through him like he was mist.

/_Because of one simple reason/__**simple reason**__/ _Sigma turned to look at him. _/I wish to help you/_

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Well, ladies and gentlemen, please read and review. Let me know what I did right, what I did wrong and everything in between. Until next time.


	3. Chapter 3

"The _hell_ did you just say?" Tex stood about two inches away from Sigma's face, staring the wraith in the eye with a furious expression.

/_That I wish to help you/__**I wish to help you/ **_Sigma placidly replied. /_There is much going on that we do not understand _

"And you just want to, what, play nice for a while?" Church raised an eyebrow, and kept the sniper rifle pointed directly at Sigma.

/_I merely wish to understand what is going on/ __**understand what is going on**__/ _Sigma raised his hands is a calming gesture _/There is no need for any hostilities/_

Tex glared red-hot hatred at Sigma, before turning her smoldering gaze at Church. "You cannot be listening to this irritating cockbite. Shoot him and we'll figure out what to do then. Hell, give me the gun and _I'll _shoot him."

/_You have not been paying attention have you, sister/_ Sigma smiled at the enraged black figure /_All attempts to harm me will do… / _Tex swung at the figure again, her fist passing through again.

_/Nothing/__** will do nothing**__/ _Sigma finished calmly. /_I am not sure what is happening, but my control is …no longer all-encompassing/ _Sigma gestured around them /_As you may be able to tell, I can no longer control the medium of the environment/_

Around them, the inky blackness had faded and shapes began to form around them as light started emerging from unknown sources. The place began looking like some sort of warehouse? Church was confused. This place looked familiar, but he could have sworn he'd never been here before.

"So what the hell can you do for us?" Church replied "If you can't crush us anymore, that's just great, but why should that be of any of our concern?"

_/Because, Alpha, this is all happening because of you/ __**happening**__**because of you**_/ Sigma came close to Church, locking gazes at him despite the weapon still pointed directly at him. /_And I believe the answers are within you, but only I can unlock them/ __**only I can unlock them/ **_

**"Is memory the key? Because I'm sick and tired of that garbage. I think this sniper rifle is something that you can't predict and I'm going to enjoy trying it out on you." **Church shook with uncharacteristic anger, but for once his arm was steady and his aim was focused on the AI that had caused him so much grief.

A hand reached over to lower Church's sniper rifle. Church glanced over to see Alison- no she was-is **_Tex_** - placing a hand on the extended barrel of the gun. She glanced at him and then stared back at Sigma.

"Church," Tex urgently spoke in a low voice. "We need calm down and stop wasting our time with this asshole. I think I've figured out what's going on."

/_Very observant Agent Texas/ _Sigma gestured at the floor around the trio. _/Welcome back/ __**Welcome back/**_

Church looked around and noticed the shadows were slowly forming into more concrete shapes, and more details were emerging. There was no longer an infinite amount of space with ceilings, walls and other elements moving around coalescing into a solid background. Church lowered his gun and looked around, taking an involuntary step back. His foot scrapped against a metallic surface and slowly, like an adjusting camera lenses, things began to swim into focus.

"Son of a bitch!" Texas cursed suddenly and slugged what seemed to be nearby metal crate. Her punch left a deep dent in the still slightly murky surface. "We're back on the 'Mother of Invention'!"

She shook her head and lowered her arms. "And that means we are shaping the environment and the environment is adapting us to what we are, or should be. Here, Sigma was just another program. I was a…a Freelancer. And you, Church were a lot of things."

/_Indeed, sister/ _Sigma nodded his agreement /_At this moment could not hurt you if I wanted to. And here, the two of you were many things/ __**you were many things/ **_

Sigma flickered over to where Church was standing. /_The Alpha had many roles. He was the Director of Project Freelancer, he was the original artificial intelligence, and the source from whence we all originated. Yet he takes the form of a simulation troop-/_

"Alright, you need to shut the hell up!" Church barked at Sigma. He holstered the sniper rifle and looked around. They had been placed in what seemed to be the main storage bay. The environment had finished adjusting, and the lights overhead illuminated metal containers littered the floor along with loose equipment and the occasional military vehicle.

The only thing that separated it from being an exact duplicate of the _Mother of Invention _was the lack of people. Other than the three figures, the entire area was completely empty. Sigma merely stood in the area, hands behind his back, staring at Church with the look a predator analyzing a new creature to decide if it was prey, a greater predator, or something else. Tex had not-so-nonchalantly leaned against the metal shipping crate with the large dent in it, arms crossed, pointedly ignoring Sigma. A typical scowl was on her face. Church walked over to her, making a point to meet Sigma's gaze and then carefully look away.

"Listen," Church commented quietly to Tex. "I have no idea how to do it, but we've got to get out of here. Wash is planning…" unsure of whether Sigma would overhear, Church decided to keep it vague, "Something…and I'd rather not stick around any longer than we have to." Tex sighed, looking into Church's eyes.

"Yeah, like usual I've got to get us out of this." Tex shrugged and smiled. "Well maybe this time I'll actually be able to get you out of here."

A painful memory flashed between them, of a dazed and amnesiac Alpha speaking to an exhausted and desperate Beta within the confines of the Sarcophagus.

_She looks so beautiful when she smiles._ Church thought, suddenly brought back to reality. _And I, I have not seen her smile, actually smile in…since I don't know when. _Impulsively he reached over to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear-

And found himself slammed against a storage container, with his arm twisted behind his back.

"Well, isn't this nice?" Church spluttered against the cold metal. He twisted his head to glare at Tex, who was still smiling, but in a pointed way that a shark smiles.

"Yep." Tex's grin slowly faded as she kept him pinned. "Just like old times." After letting him go, she not-so-playfully socked him in the arm. Church winced, and carefully rolled his arm, unused to the feeling of a twisted limb, and adapting the concept of pain again.

/_Well, Agent Texas/ _Sigma ignored their small interaction and curtly addressed them as if they were in a business meeting /_It would seem that you are in charge of this mission/__**in charge of this mission/ **__What is our first order of business/_

"_Our_ first order of business is that you butt out and piss off." Tex shot back at him, brushing an imaginary fleck of dust off of her black armor. "Church and I have work to do. And as much as I hate to admit it… I'm gonna need some help."

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Hello readers! Thanks for reading, and my apologies for the delay. I hope the loyal fans catch all of the various references I've slipped in there. In any case, please read and review. I do appreciate any and all input, criticism, and anything in between.


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